Terra Haute, Indiana. Bowling Green, Kentucky. Cairo, Illinois.
He’d seen road signs for those cities, but none of them were on the way. Not that he cared, however. He wasn’t going to go anywhere for safety until he made it to his dad in Kansas City.
Garth drove the taxi over a giant bridge into downtown St. Louis.
“You were right,” Lydia told him. “This is much larger than Louisville.”
He chuckled. “No, that’s not why I wanted you to see this. These are tiny towns compared to my home in New York City. I wanted you to see the Gateway Arch. We learned about it in social studies. It was built to commemorate pioneer settlers like you.”
“Really? We were important enough to get an arch?”
“You were. Uh, are.” From the bridge, they had a perfect view of the riverfront along the Mississippi River and the skyscrapers of the city behind it. The Arch was supposed to be right on the river, he thought. “But I don’t know why we can’t see it.”
She strained to look over the side of the bridge. “Is it down there? I see a lot of boats on the water.”
He tried to see what she was looking at, but a tall, circular building got in his way as he drove. The Riverside Hotel was about thirty stories tall, and it blocked the riverfront.
“Awe, I missed them,” he replied. “Wait! I see now.” As they passed the end of the hotel, but before they went into the city, he got a brief glimpse of hundreds of steam paddleboats down on the water. They looked like long john donuts with spinning paddles at the back. Twin stacks belched out black smoke from the tops of those boats that were on the move.
“The Arch should have been visible as we drove across the bridge. It was built to be higher than the whole city. It’s gone.” It reminded him of the numerous time issues he’d seen the past few days. The problem was in St. Louis, too. “This city ain’t right.”
A sign welcomed them to the Show Me State.
“I’ve been to Missouri!” she said with excitement before tempering it a bit. “I was here in St. Louis a few months ago, but it didn’t look anything like it does today…”
He supposed she felt like she’d come full circle, but he could only imagine what it would be like to visit the same city a hundred and fifty years apart.
“Hey,” he said enthusiastically. “Look at that sign. It says Kansas City is in this direction.”
He was distracted by showing her the road sign when two white police cruisers passed them like they were chasing the most dangerous fugitives in America. The fast-moving vehicles made the wind howl like a demon through his broken window.
He jerked the wheel out of instinct.
“Shit!”
He didn’t come close to losing control of the car, but he did swerve. Before he fully regained his bearings, two regular cars passed him traveling almost as fast as the police.
“It’s like a pursuit in reverse,” he remarked.
“Those police are being chased?” she asked.
“I guess. I don’t know.” He gave the car more gas. “What I do know is that the police aren’t going to pull anyone over who is behind them. Maybe we can kick it up a notch.”
He’d been doing close to the speed limit the entire time on the highway because he didn’t want to get pulled over with a gun in the backseat, but this gave him an incentive to break the rules.
As they drove across the city of St. Louis, several more police cars joined the first two. Once, a car came up behind him with lights flashing, and Garth thought he’d blown his whole trip, but once he moved out of the way, the police vehicle sped by. By the time they left suburban St. Louis, there was a procession of ten police cars up ahead.
“Garth, this feels unsafe.”
The wind noise made it seem like they were doing two hundred miles per hour, but he wasn’t going much over a hundred. Nonetheless, it was dangerously fast for a driver without a license, and the open window amplified the fear factor.
“I’ve got this. If we stick with the police, we can go as fast as they do. Look, these other cars are sticking with them, too. I’m sure they’ll get pulled over before we do.” He had no idea if that was true, but it helped him justify the newfound speed streak in him.
“Well, I trust you.” She held onto her seatbelt like it was a security blanket. He felt bad for her, but there was no chance he’d give up his good luck. The Arch was missing, so the weird stuff with time was everywhere. The option to play it safe was long gone.
“We have half a tank of gas, a six-pack of Mountain Dew, and a breezy howl we can’t turn off.” He pointed to his busted window. “Nothing can stop us now!” He stifled a yawn after he spoke, noting to himself it seemed weird that he would be tired when there was so much excitement happening right then.
Lydia seemed to settle down when she saw him in control. It was his interpretation, at least. He did his best to project confidence now that he saw how close they were to the end.
Dad and I might already be in the same state.
Fourteen
Search for Nuclear, Astrophysical, and Kronometric Extremes (SNAKE). Red Mesa, Colorado
“General Smith said he had a team shutting things down at CERN. We were waiting for the results of that mission when he and I …went into the tunnels. He didn’t come out, and his people wouldn’t talk to me after he was dead.”
Faith was happy to find out that SNAKE wasn’t the target, but there was a team of fellow scientists sitting in Europe at that moment who had huge targets on their backs.
“I only know what I was told by my bosses. The mission departed Ramstein yesterday afternoon and made it to Geneva last night. However, we have no idea what happened once they got there. We’ve been trying to raise them ever since, but America is in full retreat from the European theater. Most of our satellites are gone, and communications are a nightmare.”
“So they might still succeed?” she pressed. “We have to call CERN immediately.”
Dr. Johnson slowly shook his head, as if he’d thought about it but had come to a negative conclusion. “Energy is still coming through to the last Four Arrows container. We know CERN is up and running based on that evidence, so the mission failed.”
“What if—”
He interrupted her. “It won’t matter, Doctor. Even if they shut off the local electrical power, it won’t break the connection to us.”
“How can you possibly know that?” she asked.
“Dr. Sinclair, I know the CERN campus better than almost anyone. I was there when the experiment was engaged. I was part of the world’s first matter teleportation. Whatever trickle of electricity comes out of that station, it is secondary to the dark energy tethered to it through the Earth’s mantle. The only way to stop the energy transfer is to destroy CERN down to the foundation.”
“How?” Bob asked.
“Nukes.”
“Sheesh,” Bob replied. “Seems like overkill.”
“The military strategists tell me they can’t be sure a conventional explosion will do enough damage to the entire thirty-two-kilometer ring. We have to be sure everything is gone so there will be no chance of any energy making its way into the virtual corridor created between them and us.”
“And you trust the military to get it done?” Faith asked sadly.
“I trust them with my life. They have an entire division of troops protecting the last Four Arrows box in your facility. It’s also a key element for making the destruction of CERN a success.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“General Smith saved your precious hardware, Dr. Sinclair. Our testing suggests losing the last box would have made the time dilation and schisms worse out in the world, but even more than that, it would have meant we’d have to change our tactics and try to nuke SNAKE instead of CERN. If that had happened, you and I would have been out of luck for surviving this disaster.”
“Because you would have had to go to CERN.” It was Donald Perkins.
“Ah, nice to se
e you are still with us, Doctor,” Dr. Johnson replied. “And yes, the two-deer-fighting-for-dominance thing was accurate. It’s either them or us.”
Donald chuckled. “Do you think it’s possible the Europeans might have sent someone to blow us up? You know, so they don’t have nukes raining down on a city smack in the middle of their territory?”
She noticed a disturbing emotion pass over Dr. Johnson’s face.
“No, that’s madness. No one knows about this…”
Faith didn’t think he was at all convincing.
“Well, I, um, must leave you for a bit. The guards outside have orders to watch over you as a group until we can figure out what to do with you. I’m sorry I can’t offer anything more, but I must do as the Army says too.”
“Doctor, you know this isn’t right. None of it. You are at least going to warn people at CERN, aren’t you? They need to get clear of the bomb.”
He walked to the door. “You have to think of this as a necessary evil. If we give them any warning, European security services may catch wind, and their armies might retaliate. Imagine going to war with Europeans over something that is destined to save humanity? Better to have one nuclear smudge in Switzerland than hundreds across America, right?”
Dr. Johnson opened the door and nodded to a guard outside. Before he left, he turned back around to face the unsettled scientists in conference room five. “Trust me, we’ve looked at every option. You’ll thank me when everything goes back to normal.”
Before anyone could reply, he started on a different topic. “They tell me you can go in groups to the cafeteria and the restrooms, but the guards will stick with you. The rest of your group, as well as the scientists brought in by NORAD, will remain in the main auditorium.”
Missy stood up. “Can I go back down there? I was helping them before you brought me here.”
“It isn’t really up to me, but I’ll try. Come on.” He waved her over.
Faith’s assistant walked across a row and went right to her. “I’m sorry I can’t stay here,” she said sadly. Missy hugged her while whispering in her ear, “I can tell you want to warn CERN. I’ll try to find a way.”
“Thank you,” she whispered back.
Watching her old friend go out the door was the inspiration for her to find her own way to resist the takeover by the military. Dr. Johnson might be in control of SNAKE, and the military might be swarming over every inch of their lab, but there was no reason to give up on her fellow human beings. She had no illusions about stopping a nuclear attack, but there had to be a way to at least warn the victims.
I know just the person.
Red Mesa, CO
“Tell me what the hell is going on here? What is this bullshit about disappearing?”
Ethan’s team brought the two guards deeper into the forest, far from any of the four-wheel-drive trails that linked the emergency exits around SNAKE. They were safely inside the collider ring, which was all it took to get the captured guards to talk.
The lead guard’s name tape said Murphy. “I can’t reveal our mission in full. You know that, right?”
Ethan appeared unsurprised. “For now, just tell me what I want to know.”
Murphy leaned against a pine. “Our briefing was very clear about what to expect when we got here. They said there is a tunnel running in a hundred-mile circle under the foothills. Our CO came through here when we were setting up holding a topo map with the tunnel drawn on it. He pointed to the area I showed you and said we were not under any circumstances to pass through there, or we’d be in danger when the collider was turned off for good.”
Phil looked at Ethan. “They are shutting this collider down, too?”
“They didn’t tell me that,” Murphy replied matter-of-factly.
“We turned off the power at CERN,” Phil interjected. “I was there. We both were.” He pointed at Ethan.
Murphy shrugged. “Above my pay grade. I heard some talk this morning that both of these magical rings were still making trouble. I guess it means one or both are still powered up.”
“Fuck.” Ethan rubbed his chin in deep thought. “I could take this detour if our mission was done, but it appears as if we failed.”
“We don’t know for sure,” he suggested.
Murphy nodded. “I really have no idea about the other place. The only thing that matters is staying inside this ring. It’s the only place on Earth they said is safe for us, so we have to protect it with our lives. They told us over and over.”
Phil puzzled it out. “The ground below the SNAKE supercollider is going to protect you? Is that why you can’t leave the boundary? Is SNAKE some kind of home base for when the power gets turned off?”
Murphy smiled. “Yes! That’s a perfect way of describing it. Stay within the ring and live through the upcoming shitshow. Right on, uh, sir.”
If they shut off the power and were shot across the planet, he wondered if turning it off on this end would send them back to CERN?
They needed more intel.
I-70, Kansas
Buck had to brush aside a wet mass of the dead locusts plastered to his hood so he could reach his windshield, which brought back some bad memories. “I spent some time burning shit with diesel back in the Sandbox. That was sick, but at least I didn’t have to put my hands in it.”
They’d pulled off the highway a hundred feet before the ramp to I-70.
Connie stood with Mac in front of the Peterbilt so the pup could do his business. She listened to him talk but stared vacantly to the west.
“You with me, lady?” he asked in a kind voice.
She turned and seemed to notice him. “Sorry. I was thinking about Phil. I swear he’s out there.” She pointed toward the sun, which was low in the sky.
After getting free of the locust storm, Buck had driven his truck as if it were a rental. They had made it out of Nebraska and halfway across Kansas in about two hours, and now the highway to Kansas City was within sight. Because they’d made such good time, he decided it was safe to get out and do a little KP.
He used his squeegee to scrub off the bugs caked on his windshield. The carcasses fell onto his hood, adding to the two inches of bodies already there. It turned his stomach because of the thick goo holding the bunch together like glue.
“I know he is. And my son is two hours that way.” He pointed the squeegee to the east. “We’ve got one more city to go, then we’ll head back west if that’s where you think we’ll find Phil.”
“He could be in New Mexico,” she suggested. It was also to the west.
Mac ran in circles, happy to be free. There was no time for the ball, and he was all out of meat-stick treats, so a run in the sun had to suffice.
After pushing another section of slop off his window, he turned to talk to her.
“We didn’t meet by random chance, then go through this nightmare, only to find out your son didn’t make it. Garth is going to survive all this, and so is your Phil. We only need the time to make it happen.”
He didn’t bring up the talk of nuclear war, time anomalies, or the insects stuck on crazy. Much like burning the latrine pits with diesel, it was best to hold your nose and power through it.
Buck looked back at Eve, Monsignor, and Sparky, who were working together to clean the rigs parked behind his. His team was prepared to go the distance, and he was happy that they only had two hours to go before he could prove to them it was all worth it. He embraced the role, too. Once he had his son, he was going to find them a place of safety. The radio continued to talk of cities designated as safe zones.
He wanted to go west to somewhere like Denver, his original destination, but it might be hard to pass up other cities if he could ensure his friends and his son would be safe there.
When the windshield was clear, he took a few minutes to run in circles with Big Mac. The exercise helped restore some of his energy. He wasn’t going to say it, but he was beat.
No mistakes, Buck.
Fifteen
> Columbia, MO
“Garth, look! They’re pulling off the highway.”
He’d been driving at almost a hundred miles an hour for the past ninety minutes. It was early evening, and the sun was a baking-hot orb low in the west. He’d been driving all day, and he and the car were now on fumes.
“Thank God,” he replied, “I, uh, need to pee.”
“Me too,” she said with more excitement than him. The filthy travel restrooms they’d been using weren’t up to any standard of cleanliness he supported, but Lydia was ecstatic to use toilets more substantial than a piece of wood with a hole in it.
“Let’s do this. We only need a little more gas to get us to Kansas City. If we need more money after that, my dad will take care of it.” He looked forward to letting his dad take over for him.
He pulled into the same gas station as the police caravan, although he had some fear there wouldn’t be enough gas pumps. However, the modern travel station had more than enough for all of them.
As soon as he turned off the motor, he read the hand-printed signs taped nearby.
“Cash only. $20/gallon, all blends.”
He pulled his small wad of bills out of the tiny pocket in his jeans.
Oh, shit.
A crumpled twenty and some ones were all he had left.
What would his dad do? It had been the guiding question of the trip. He was certain it was at least another hour or two to Kansas City. There was a little gas left in the tank, but adding one gallon wasn’t going to help much.
Garth looked around and saw nothing but police cars. The uniformed men hustled to fill their tanks or run inside with the civilians riding with them. He figured they were the families of the officers.
“Hold on, Lydia. I’ve got to talk to them.”
Begin Again: A Post-Apocalyptic Adventure (End Days Book 4) Page 11